Chocolate is one of the world's favorite food products, and may be found in a variety of forms including dark chocolate, white chocolate, and milk chocolate. Chocolate is, of course, a food substance, of which principal constituents are chocolate liquor and cocoa butter, both of which are derived from cocoa beans, together with sugar. When milk chocolate is prepared, the formulation will include milk solids, including butter fat, as well. Milk chocolate is substantially anhydrous.
While many countries have their own standards for milk chocolate, it is essentially universally held that there must be no less than 12% of milk solids--and usually in the range of 20% to 35%, including butter fat--included in the milk chocolate formulation. The fat system which is found in milk chocolate is the combination or blend of cocoa butter together with butter fat. It follows that milk chocolate is a suspension, in which the milk solids and sugar are suspended in a fat system.
Indeed, a general consideration during the production of milk chocolate is that the available butter fat which comes from the milk constituent, and which is added to the chocolate formulation, must be miscible with the cocoa butter and will blend with the cocoa butter so as to form the fat system of the milk chocolate. It is well noted that cocoa butter and butter fat have quite dissimilar characteristics, although they may be tempered in a similar fashion at specific tempering temperatures and dwell times, in order to achieve the required chocolate characteristics of hardness and snap. Cocoa butter and butter fat do not form a eutectic within which various fat crystal structures can be detected with the desired characteristics being available only within very narrow ranges; and thus, the compatibility as to crystalline structure and as to hardness between the butter fat and cocoa butter are important to the chocolate maker. Certain aspects thereof, however, are outside the scope of the present invention.
Of particular concern to the present invention, on the other hand, is the fact that the degree of caramelization of sugar, which is a major constituent of the milk chocolate, will have noticeable and, in some cases, profound effects on the flavor--and, indeed, on the color--thereof. The degree of caramelization will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, depending on the manner in which they perceive market acceptance; and the degree of caramelization may vary from country to country, with higher caramelization being more evident in the United Kingdom than, say, in North America.
The production of milk chocolate generally will follow one of several different processes. One approach is to mix a chocolate nib, together with sugar, milk powder, and cocoa butter and, after being mixed together, the mix is refined, pasted, and conched. Another approach is to mix together chocolate liquor, pulverized sugar, milk powder, and cocoa butter, followed by refining, pasting, and conching. Indeed, the milk powder which may be used in those processes may conveniently be the milk powder which is described in Applicant's copending United States patent application Ser. No. 08/543,571, filed Oct. 16, 1995.
A third, very common process for the production of milk chocolate, is to mix together chocolate crumb together with cocoa butter in a mixer or paster, refining the mix, and then re-pasting the mix, and finally conching. The advantage of that process is that the chocolate crumb, which is in a powder form, may have been manufactured previously, up to many months previously; or, indeed, the chocolate crumb may have been manufactured in an entirely different factory or even in a different country. Another particular advantage of the use of chocolate crumb is that it has extremely good storage and keeping properties, provided that it is stored in such a manner that it will not readily pick up moisture, and it provides a product which will generally meet very strict bacteriological specifications, especially when compared with other milk products. Yet a further advantage of manufacturing chocolate crumb is that very considerable quantities may be manufactured during periods when milk productivity is high, such as during the summer, and may then be utilized for milk chocolate manufacture during the winter when the production quantities of milk may have been reduced.
Previously, milk chocolate crumb has particularly been developed, and the processes improved and adopted by manufacturers in the United Kingdom. As mentioned, milk chocolate requires that the sugar constituent of the chocolate shall be at least partly caramelized, and the flavor and color of the caramelization will carry into the milk chocolate product when it is produced. Moreover, milk chocolate is quite sweet, and the predominant constituent thereof is sugar. Thus, flavor contributions to the milk chocolate come particularly from caramelized sugar and from the chocolate liquor, as well as from the sugar.
Traditionally, factories for the production of chocolate crumb have generally been situated in dairy regions. The general processes followed for the production of chocolate crumb, up to the present time, are as follows:
Milk is brought into the factory, filtered, cooled, and stored. Usually, the milk is then evaporated or condensed, so that the still liquid milk product contains about 30% up to 40% of total solids; it being understood that whole milk will contain about 12% milk solids, including butter fat. Sugar is added to the condensed milk, in keeping with the particular recipe of the chocolate manufacturer, and that mix is then condensed to become about 90% solids. At that time, some of the sugar constituent in the mix will begin to crystallize.
The milk and sugar concentrate is then added to cocoa liquor and kneaded, during which crystallization of the sugar will continue.
Then, the concentrate is dried at temperatures generally ranging from 75.degree. C. up to 110.degree. C. for from 4 to 8 hours. Close control is required because during the drying process caramelization of the sugar will be brought about. It follows, therefore, that the flavor of the milk chocolate which will ultimately be produced will be quite dependent upon the time and temperature at which the concentrate has been dried, and from which the degree of caramelization of the sugar is controlled.
The then prepared crumb is removed from the oven or dryer where it has been prepared. The crumb is essentially anhydrous, having less than 1% moisture.
Alternatively, instead of the concentrate having been kneaded, it may be passed to a heat exchanger evaporator. There, the solids of the concentrate are increased to about 95% or 96%, and caramelization of the sugar occurs at the same time. This process is much faster, because the cooking time is limited to about 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the extent of the caramelization of the sugar which is required.
A typical milk crumb composition may be essentially as follows:
cocoa liquor, about 5% by weight of the crumb composition, up to about 13.5% by weight of the crumb composition; PA1 the fat constituent carried into the crumb composition by the cocoa liquor may be from about 2.8% by weight of the crumb composition up to about 7.3% by weight thereof; PA1 about 53% of the crumb composition will be sugar; PA1 milk solids of the crumb composition will be about 32%, of which about 9.2% by weight of the crumb composition is fat; PA1 there may be limited amounts of moisture, generally below 1%; PA1 there may also be an additional amount of cocoa butter added to the crumb composition, in keeping with the present invention as described hereafter, in an amount up to about 10%; PA1 the fat content of the chocolate crumb will generally be in the range of 16.5% to about 22%; PA1 the milk solids in the chocolate crumb, not including butter fat, will generally be about 23%; and PA1 the total amount of dried milk solids and butter fat found in milk chocolate crumb will generally be in the range of about 30% to 34% by weight. PA1 (a) First, a first portion of liquid milk is mixed with a first portion of sugar which, as noted above is approximately 20 weight units. The first portion of liquid milk comprises a first portion of milk solids and a first portion of water; and the first portion milk solids may include butter fat but does not necessarily include butter fat, as discussed hereafter. The first portion of water is just sufficient so as to hydrate the first portion of sugar which has been chosen; and a slurry batch of the hydrated sugar and liquid milk is formed. PA1 (b) The slurry batch is heated to a temperature of about 105.degree. C. to 115.degree. C., and maintained at that temperature for sufficient time so as to caramelize the sugar to a selected degree of caramelization. That time is also sufficient to substantially drive off the first portion of water, thereby leaving a caramelized slurry batch which comprises the caramelized sugar and the first portion of milk solids which has been carried into it from the first portion of milk. PA1 (c) The caramelized slurry batch is maintained at an elevated temperature, so as to remain heated, and thereby so as to maintain the sugar in suspension. PA1 (d) A second portion of liquid milk is obtained, with the total weight of milk solids of that second portion of liquid milk, together with the milk solids from the first portion of liquid milk being within the range of 23 to 34 weight units. PA1 (e) The still heated caramelized slurry batch is mixed together with at least some of the second portion of liquid milk, so as to rehydrate the caramelized sugar in the slurry batch. Then, the remainder of the second portion of liquid milk, if it has not already been used, is added to the batch, so as to form a pre-crumb slurry. PA1 (f) The pre-crumb slurry is transferred to a conventional drier, where it is dried so as to obtain the total weight of milk solids (which, as noted above, is within the range of 23 to 34 weight units), as dried milk solids. The caramelized sugar is also present in the dry pre-crumb slurry. PA1 (g) The total weight of dried milk solids and the caramelized sugar obtained from step (e) above are mixed together with the remaining sugar, the anhydrous cocoa butter, and the anhydrous cocoa liquor, all in keeping with the above, so as to arrive at the selected analysis amounts of each of them. PA1 (h) Additional anhydrous butter fat may be added to the mixture, if necessary, so as to bring the total amount of dried milk solids and anhydrous butter fat up to the range of 30 to 34 weight units of the prepared chocolate crumb. PA1 (i) Finally, the prepared chocolate crumb is refined, if required, so that it may be pasted and conched as may be necessary for recovery and further processing in the manufacture of milk chocolate. The prepared chocolate crumbs may then be stored so as to be used at a later time.
As noted previously, the production of milk chocolate may follow many months later than the production of the chocolate crumb, and in a different location. The chocolate crumb is mixed together with cocoa butter to form a paste, it is refined and then re-pasted, and finally it is conched so that the mixture obtains a fine chocolate with very low particle size.
Further discussion of the product and manufacture of chocolate, with particular emphasis on milk chocolate, as the industry had developed up to about 1980, is found in Chocolate, Cocoa and Confectionary: Science and Technology, second edition, by Bernard W. Minifie, copyright 1980, published by AVI Publication Company, Inc., of Westport, Conn., U.S.A., at pages 105 through 114.
A further prior teaching of machinery for the production of chocolate crumb is MINIFIE et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,371, issued Apr. 25, 1978. That patent teaches a continuous process for production of a crumb product, particularly chocolate crumb, where a feed stock of sugar, milk solids, a significant amount of moisture, and chocolate when required, is heated to about 125.degree. C. and condensed to have a moisture content of about 4% to 6%. A vertical column is employed, and the condensed material is maintained at its final temperature until it is transferred to a crystallizer. There, the product is moved downwardly and kneaded and, at the same time, it is cooled. This results in a crystallized particulate product, where the sugar has been caramelized to an extent governed by the temperature and dwell time.
The present invention provides a batch process, by which the same flavor profile is achieved, with the same caramelization flavor contribution for chocolate crumb as has been found in prior methods, but in an easier process to control and with lower capital investment. Chocolate crumb with substantially the same analysis and fat profile as previously has been manufactured is provided by the present invention; and in keeping with certain aspects of the present invention, there may be higher availability of fat to enter into the fat system of the chocolate crumb.
The present inventor has found that, quite unexpectedly, it is possible to obtain the same flavor profile in chocolate crumb by taking only a portion of the sugar content which will be found in the chocolate crumb and hydrating it with a small portion of milk, of which the water content is just sufficient to hydrate the sugar. If that hydrated sugar is then cooked or heated sufficiently to a point where a desired degree of caramelization is achieved, then there will be sufficient caramelization to flavor an entire batch having 100% sugar contribution, and of which only a small portion of the sugar has been caramelized. The desired flavor profile for the entire batch, having the same flavor as prior milk chocolate crumbs, will be achieved. The color for the entire batch will also be equivalent to prior milk chocolate crumbs. The steps by which these effects are achieved are discussed hereafter.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide processes for the manufacture of chocolate crumb having the same composition and the same flavor profile, and color, of prior chocolate crumbs, but manufactured using simpler equipment and with excellent control, and in which only a portion of the entire sugar content of the chocolate crumb has been caramelized.
It is further object of the present invention to provide such chocolate crumb using skim milk, whole milk, or condensed milk, during certain steps taken in the process.
Indeed, another feature of the present invention is that the processes of the present invention are equally applicable to the preparation of white chocolate crumb; it being understood that white chocolate crumb is essentially the same as chocolate crumb except that no cocoa liquor is used in its preparation, and the analysis thereof may be slightly different than ordinary chocolate crumb.
In certain features of the invention, therefore, total fat availability is provided, notwithstanding that in ordinary processes some butter fat may be encapsulated in the serum products of whole milk as it is dried during production of the chocolate crumb, and is unrecoverable as fat to enter the fat system of the chocolate crumb.